Parliament logjam: Minister talks about 'no work, no pay'

Amid a logjam in Parliament, Union Minister Mahesh Sharma has said there is a suggestion for applying 'no work, no pay' policy on MPs like it is being done with regard to bureaucrats, triggering a debate after which he went into a denial mode.

Varanasi/New Delhi: Amid a logjam in Parliament, Union Minister Mahesh Sharma has said there is a suggestion for applying 'no work, no pay' policy on MPs like it is being done with regard to bureaucrats, triggering a debate after which he went into a denial mode.

"There is a suggestion that like for the bureaucrats there is 'no work, no pay', we should implement for the MPs also," he told reporters in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh yesterday.

Sharma, the Minister for Tourism and Culture, went on to add that the government is planning this and senior ministers are in touch with the opposition to reach a consensus.

"There is a planning for it. Our government is trying and our senior ministers are in touch with the opposition. There is an effort to reach a consensus before the tough action is taken," he said.

On a visit to Varanasi, Sharma was replying to the queries of reporters as to whether the union government was mulling over any proposal of 'no work, no pay' policy for the MPs stalling Parliament as public money is going waste.

Parliament has not been functioning properly ever since the Monsoon session began on July 21 as the opposition parties have been pressing for resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in connection with Lalit Modi controversy and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over Vyapam Scam. respectively.

The comments triggered a debate, with opposition parties wanting to know if it was his view or that of the government.

Amidst this, Sharma today said, "I still want to see what I had said.... Definitely it is not my statement and I just want to see that."

He added that, "I am not the authorised person. I am not the competent person, and I am not the required person to comment on this issue. I think this will be a matter of our Speaker and our senior ministers to discuss."